r  \ . 


■  ...  , i b a. Vi  y f % ,  ;', ■; A ^ .■»  i", 

_  $ 

*  ••.; 

ATLANTIC  AND  ST.  LAWRENCE 
RAILROAD  COMPANY. 

/V'  '*e  Honorable  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 

now  in  Session : 

Your  committee  on  roads,  to  whom  was  referred  Senate 
lull  No.  19.  House  bill  No.  36, entitled  -“an  act  in  addition 
to  an  act  constituting  the  Atlantic  &  St.  Lawrence  Rail¬ 
road  Company  a  corporation  within  this  State,”  approved 
Oct.  27,  1818,  would  respectfully  report  that  they  have  had 
said  bill  under  consideration  before  the  joint  committee  oh 
roads  of  the  two  Houses,  and  we  have  endeavored  to  give 
to  the  subject  that  consideration  which  its  importance,  and 
the  interest  felt  in  it  by  the  people  of  this  and  other  States, 
seemed  to  demand. 

The  committee  consider  it  a  matter  of  no  ordinary  mo¬ 
ment,  involving  great  interests  of  the  company  making  the 


application,  and  to  neighboring  States,  as  well  as  to  the 
people  of  this  State,  and  especially  to  those  of  our  citizens 
residing  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  this  State. 

It  may  also  be  supposed  to  affect  the  interests  of  the  Pas- 
sumpsic  railroad,  and  the  contemplated  Missisquoi  railroad, 
chartered  at  the  last  session  of  the  legislature. 

The  bill  is  an  amendment  of  the  act  of  1849,  so  as  to 
give  to  the  corporation  a  further  time  till  the  first  day  of 
August  next,  to  make  further  survey  and  locate  their  road 
on  the  ground  originally  granted  by  their  charter. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  this  application  would 
have  been  granted  as  a  matter  of  course — and  more  espe¬ 
cially  so,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  Atlantic  and  St. 
Lawrence  Railroad  is  a  great  work,  connecting  the  Atlantic 
with  the  St.  Lawrence,  being  nearly  three  hundred  miles  in 
length,  connecting  distant  cities  and  States,  and  involving 
an  expenditure  of  nearly  nine  millions  of  dollars. 

The  Atlantic  and  St.  Lawrence  Railroad  company,  having 
been  previously  established  by  the  legislature  of  Maine,  in 
1845.  and  by  the  legislature  of  New  Hampshire,  in  1847, 
was  constituted  a  corporation  \vithin  this  State  by  an  act 
passed  in  1848.  The  general  purpose  of  the  company,  and 
its  object  in  seeking  the  right  of  way  through  this  State, 
appear  in  the  description  of  the  route,  which  the  act  author¬ 
ized  them  to  adopt.  The  second  section  of  that  act  is  in 
the  following  words  : 

“  The  said  company  are  hereby  authorized  to  continue 
and  extend  their  railroad  according  to  the  provisions  of  their 
charter,  and  subject  to  the  conditions  and  limitations  of  this 


3 


act,  from  the  western  line  of  New  Hampshire,  in  the  coun¬ 
ty  of  Coos,  through  the  north-eastern  part  of  this  State,  to 
the  boundary  of  Canada,  there  to  connect  with  the  Atlantic 
and  St.  Lawrence  railroad,  to  be  constructed  from  Montreal 
to  said  boundary  line.” 

~  The  intention  of  the  company  to  apply  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  Vermont  for  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1848, 
was  not  made  known  by  the  usual  publication  of  notice,  re¬ 
quired  by  the  statute,  at  that  time,  but  all  the  parties  within 
this  State  supposed  to  be  interested  in  the  matter,  and  par¬ 
ticularly  the  President  and  several  of  the  Directors  of  the  Pas- 
sumpsic  railroad  company  were  notified  and  consulted  as  to 
the  objects  of  the  act.  The  terms  of  the  act  and  the  des¬ 
cription  of  the  route  were  also  particularly  made  known  to 
two  other  directors  of  that  company,  after  the  bill  was  drawn, 
and  before  its  passage. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  bill  was  passed  without 
any  opposition. 

By  the  terms  of  the  act  the  company  was  required  to 
make  and  record  its  location  through  this  State,  within  two 
years  from  the  passage  of  the  act. 

On  account  of  the  great  length  of  route  requiring  examina¬ 
tion  between  the  line  of  Maine  and  the  boundary,  through 
New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  and  the  necessity  of  explor¬ 
ing  the  courses  and  elevations  of  a  great  number  of  streams, 
through  a  country  of  that  difficult  character,  extensively 
covered  with  forest,  the  company  had  not  been  able  to  com¬ 
plete  the  survey  of  all  the  practicable  routes  within  their 
chartered  limits,  when  the  period  of  two  years  above  refer- 


P 39487 


4 


red  to  was  about  expiring.  The  company  then  applied  to 
the  general  assembly  of  1850,  for  an  extension  of  time,  to 
complete  and  record  their  location.  Owing  to  a  want  of 
acquaintance  with  the  statute  regulations  of  Vermont  res- 
respecting  notice  in  such  cases,  the  requisite  notice  had  not 
previously  been  given  in  this  case,  and  the  application 
failed  at  that  time. 

The  company  thereupon  proceeded,  before  the  expiration 
of  the  two  years,  to  make  a  location  upon  one  of  the  routes, 
which  had  then  been  surveyed.  This  route  was  by  way 
of  the  east  branch  of  the  Nulhegan  river.  Subsequent  and 
more  full  surveys  and  comparison  of  routes  have  shewn  that 
the  line  so  located  is  highly  objectionable,  and  the  compa¬ 
ny  now  ask  for  a  further  time  to  complete  the  location  of 
their  line,  upon  another  route  within  this  State. 

Of  this  application,  due  notice  has  been  given  according 
to  the  statute. 

Within  the  three  years  that  have  elapsed,  since  the  com¬ 
pany  were  authorised  to  passthrough  this  State,  no  change 
has  occurred  in  respect  to  their  original  purposes,  and  the 
construction  of  their  road  has  gone  forward  according  to 
the  original  design,  in  reliance  upon  the  liberty  of  transit 
through  this  State,  which  was  granted  without  objection  in 
1848. 

At  the  present  time,  the  road  is  built  and  in  operation  for 
a  distance  of  91  miles,  extending  from  Portland  to  Gorham, 
New  Hampshire — 80  miles  in  Maine,  and  11  in  New  Hamp¬ 
shire.  The  grading  is,  to  a  large  extent  finished,  upon  a 
farther  division  reaching  to  the  Connecticut  river,  and  the 


n 


work  is  now  going  on,  upon  the  line  up  that  river  nearly  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Nulhegan.  The  associated  Canadian 
company  have  completed,  and  are  now  running  71  miles  of 
their  road,  and  have  a  further  section  actively  in  process  of 
construction.  Arrangements  are  effected  between  the  two 
companies,  by  which  it  is  intended  to  complete  the  whole 
line  within  the  course  of  the  next  year — considerably  more 
than  one  half  of  the  whole  route  between  Portland  and  Mon¬ 
treal  being  now  in  operation. 

The  Portland  company  making  the  present  application, 
do  not  ask  for  any  extension  of  limits,  nor  any  enlargement 
of  their  powers,  but  only  for  leave  to  occupy  the  ground, 
which  was  defined  for  them  by  the  legislature  of  1848. 

Not  less  than  five  different  routes  within  this  State  and 
the  adjacent  parts  of  New  Hampshire  have  been  examined 
and  surveyed. 

The  easternmost  practicable  route,  between  the  mouth 
of  the  Nulhegan  and  Lenoxville  in  Canada,  by  way  of  Hall 
stream  would  lie  wholly  within  the  limits  of  New  Hamp¬ 
shire. 

Another  route  by  way  of  Leach  stream  might  pass  through 
a  small  part  of  this  State.  On  the  American  side  of  the 
boundary,  the  distances  and  grades  of  these  routes  are  not 
unfavorable  but  on  the  Canadian  side,  they  encounter  many 
objections.  The  summit  on  the  Leach  stream  route  is  1547 
feet  above  tide,  and  would  require  grades  of  60  feet. 

The  company  are  fully  authorized  by  the  legislature  of 
New  Hampshire  to  adopt  any  route  through  that  State,  if 
their  location  should  be  made  upon  that  side. 


6 


The  route  which  the  company  adopted  when  they  made 
their  location  last  year,  so  as  to  prevent  the  lapse  of  their 
grant,  passes  by  the  east  branch  of  the  Nulhegan  to  the 
boundary  line,  and  is  the  next  most  western  route  which 
the  company  had  been  able  to  survey,  when  they  made 
their  location.  It  is  the  shortest  of  all  the  routes,  but  is 
attended  with  the  most  serious  objections  in  other  respects. 
The  summit  upon  this  route  is  higher  than  upon  any  other, 
being  1802  feet  above  tide,  and  447  feet  higher  than 
the  summit  on  the  route  which  has  since  been  ascertained, 
and  which  the  company  now  desire  to  adopt.  It  would 
require  grades  of  60  feet  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  successive 
miles.  It  is  in  a  narrow  precipitous  valley,  incapable  of 
settlement,  and  inaccessible  by  any  direct  approach  from 
the  other  settlements  of  that  region.  The  road  would  re¬ 
quire  to  be  laid  upon  elevated  side-hill  slopes,  exposing  it  to 
great  inconvenience  and  peril  from  snow  and  ice,  as  well  as 
from  torrents  in  the  tributary  streams,  and  requiring  very 
large  expenditures  to  guard,  as  far  as  possible,  against  these 
dangers. 

By  this  route  the  road  bed  would  require  to  be  laid  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Nulhegan,  at  an  elevation  of  d0  feet  above 
the  highway.  The  necessity  of  crossing  the  Connecticut 
at  this  point,  at  so  great  an  elevation,  would  render  it  im¬ 
practicable  to  establish  a  depot  on  the  Vermont  side  ;  and 
the  continuous  grade  ascending  northwards  by  this  route, 
would  require  the  depot  at  the  other  end  of  this  part  of  the 
route  to  be  established  in  Canada. 

Subsequent  to  ihe  location  upon  that  route,  the  company 


7 


proceeded  to  make  other  surveys  of  routes  farther  west, 
in  reliance  upon  an  extension  of  their  time. 

These  surveys  have  discovered  a  new  and  available 
route  by  following  the  west  branch  of  the  Nulhegan  across 
the  entire  breadth  of  Essex  county,  and  thence  northward¬ 
ly  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Coaticook,  passing  into  Can¬ 
ada. 

This  route  will  extend  for  thirty-two  miles  through  the 
territory  of  Vermont,  of  which  more  than  thirty  miles  are 
within  the  bounds  of  the  county  of  Essex.  The  whole- 
rout  e  is  strictly  within  the  limits  of  the  original  grant  to 
to  company. 

Upon  this  route,  the  highest  summit  is  but  1355  feet 
above  tide,  or  447  feet  lower  than  the  summit  in  the  East 
Nalhegan,  and  the  grades  on  both  side  of  the  boundary  do 
not  exceed  45  feet  to  the  mile. 

It  is  this  line,  which  the  company  wish  to  adopt  and  it  is 
shown  to  be  equally  favorable  to  the  purposes  of  the  con¬ 
necting  company  in  Canada.  The  latter  company  regard 
it  with  the  more  favor,  because  it  affords  them  the  host 
method  of  connecting  with  the  Passumpsic  road  and  other 
lines  in  this  State  for  Southern  travel  and  business. 

By  such  connections,  the  most  direct  communication 
would  be  opened  from  Quebec,  the  Eastern  Townships  and 
those  parts  of  lower  Canada  lying  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence 
to  Boston,  to  New  York  and  to  the  markets  and  manufac¬ 
turing  towns  on  the  Merrimack  and  Connecticut,  through 
the  medium  of  existing  roads  in  Vermont. 

The  distance  between  the  westernmost  point  of  the  line, 


8 


which  the  company  desires  to  adopt,  and  the  surveyed  route 
of  the  Passumpsic  road  is  eight  or  ten  miles. 

Another  route  presented  in  the  evidence  for  the  defence, 
would  pass  westwardly  from  the  Nulhegan  waters  down 
the  valley  of  the  Clyde  .river  to  the  surveyed  line  of  the 
Passumpsic  road,  and  thence  fiirough  a  considerable  part  of 
the  county  of  Orleans,  over  the  route  of  the  Passumpsic 
road  to  Derby  line  and  Stan  stead. 

The  testimony  showed  that  objectionable  grades  would 
be  encountered  on  the  Canadian  side  by  this  route.  This 
was  ascertained  by  a  survey  made  some  time  ago  under  the 
direction  of  the  Canadian  Company. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  this  route  by  way  of  Der¬ 
by  and  Stanstead  was  the  increased  distance — this  route 
being  19  or  20  miles  longer  than  the  shortest  route,  and  Smiles 
longer  than  the  route  which  the  company  desire  to  adopt. 

The  respective  Presidents  of  the  Portland  Company  and 
the  Canadian  Company  testified  explicitly,  that  on  account 
of  this  increased  distance,  and  the  heavy  grades  on  the 
northern  side,  which  could  not  be  overcome  except  by  very 
large  expenditure,  their  several  companies  could  not  and 
would  not,  in  any  event,  adopt  this  route  by  way  of  Derby 
Line,  and  they  formally  declined  to  accept  an  amendment, 
offered  by  the  defence  providing  for  a  connection  by  that 
way. 

Various  objections  from  the  most  respectable  sources 
were  urged  against  the  extension  of  time  asked  for  by  the 
company. 

It  was  urged  that  if  the  Atlantic  Railroad  Company  were 


9 


permitted  to  construct  their  road  by  the  way  of  West  Nul- 
hcgan  it  will  take  away  from  the  Passumpsic  road  a  great 
amount  of  business,  and  that  it  would  prevent  the  exten- 
tion  of  the  latter  road  ; 

That  the  faith  of  the  State  is  pledged  to  this  Passumpsic 
road  to  regard  their  interest  rather  than  those  of  a  foreign 
corporation.  That  the  East  Nulhegan  is  as  near  to  the 
route  of  the  Passumpsic  as  they  ought  to  be  permitted  to 
come  :  that  permitting  the  Atlantic  road  to  occupy  the  West 
Nulhegan  route  will  have  a  tendency  to  prevent  the  con¬ 
struction  of  the  Missisquoi  road,  and  thereby  prove  injuri¬ 
ous  to  the  people  living  on  that  route. 

And  further  that  if  the  Legislature  should  see  fit  to  com¬ 
ply  with  the  wishes  of  the  Atlantic  road,  that  the  Legisla¬ 
ture  should  compel  them  to  build  a  Railroad  passing  eight 
or  ten  miles  west  from  where  they  wish  to  go,  and  to  reach 
the  located  route  of  the  Passumpsic  road  and  from  that 
point  to  Canada  Line  through  the  town  of  Derby. 

In  respect  to  the  grounds  and  object  of  the  opposition 
thus  taken,  there  was  a  disagreement  in  the  testimony  of¬ 
fered  in  defence,  and  that  disagreement  was  not  reconciled 
by  any  thing  presented  in  evidence. 

On  the  one  hand  the  President  of  the  Passumpsic  road 
and  one  other  witness  for  the  defence  testified  that  in  their 
opinion  the  interests  of  the  Passumpsic  road  required  that 
the  Atlantic  road  should  be  confined  to  its  present  loc  itior, 
or  to  a  line  still  further  east. 

On  the  other  hand  several  directors  of  the  Passumpsic 
road  and  other  witnesses  on  that  side  testified  that  the  in- 


I 


10 


terests  of  that  road  would  be  best  promoted  if  the  Atlantic 
road  should  be  extended  further  westward  to  the  Passump- 
sic  surveyed  line,  and  thence  by  a  route  common  to  the  two 
companies  to  Derby  Line, 

The  President  of  the  Passumpsic  road  testified  that  his 
principal  objection  arose  from  the  fact  that  the  last  General 
Assembly  had  chartered  a  road  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
quoi  river,  from  a  point  in  the  line  of  the  Passumpsic  road 
to  the  northwestern  part  of  this  state,  which  he  had  reason 
to  believe  would  be  built,  and  that  in  his  apprehension,  if 
the  Atlantic  road  should  be  allowed  to  come  to  the  west 
side  of  Essex  county,  the  Missisquoi  would  then  inevitably 
have  a  connection  with  the  Atlantic  line,  which  in  his  opin¬ 
ion  would  be  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  Passumpsic 
road.  In  respect  to  the  bearing  of  this  objection,  the  com¬ 
mittee  state,  that  the  Missisquoi  road  itself  was  not  repre¬ 
sented  before  the  committee,  and  as  this  objection  is  urged 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  bar  to  prevent  the  Missisquoi 
road  from  obtaining  such  a  connection  as  that  referred  to,  it 
seems  not  proper  that  any  determination  should  now  be  for¬ 
med  against  any  desirable  extension  of  the  Missisquoi  road, 
inasmuch  as  that  company  is  at  this  time  not  represented  in 
the  case,  and  is  incapable,  for  want  of  corporate  organiza¬ 
tion,  to  speak  for  itself. 

A  great  amount  of  testimony  which  it  would  be  difficult 
to  incorporate  into  this  report,  was  presented  to  the  com- 
mitte,  as  to  the  grades,  distance  and  expediency  of  the  sev¬ 
eral  routes,  and  the  opinions  of  individuals  in  regard  there¬ 
to,  also  as  to  the  effect  upon  other  roads  already  built  or  in 


11 


contemplation.  From  all  which  the  committee  unanimous¬ 
ly  came  to  the  following  conclusions  : 

That  if  the  grant  prayed  for  is  refused,  there  is  no  cer¬ 
tainty  that  any  portion  of  the  Atlantic  and  St.  Lawrence 
road  will  ever  be  built  in  Vermont,  as  it  may  pass  up  the 
east  side  of  Connecticut  River,  and  by  Hall’s  stream  to 
Lenoxville  in  Canda. 

That  while  the  faith  of  the  State  is  to  be  kept  to  all  cor¬ 
porations  within  our  borders,  there  is  no  danger  of  our 
breaking  faith  to  any  of  them,  by  making  the  grant  applied 
for  by  the  Atlantic  and  St.  Lawrence  Railroad  Company. 

That  where  there  might  be  a  partial  withdrawal  of  busi¬ 
ness  from  the  Passumpsic  road  to  the  Atlantic  line,  so  long 
as  the  former  stops  at  St.  Johnsbury,  yet  that  it  would  be 
regained  and  increased  upon  the  extension  of  the  Passump¬ 
sic  road  according  to  its  charter. 

That  if  the  northern  counties  of  this  State  should  derive 
a  benefit  by  transacting  some  portion  vd*  their  business  over 
the  Atlantic  road  as  the  shortest  line  of  access  to  tne  sea¬ 
board,  this  advantage  to  them  would  so  increase  their  gen¬ 
eral  prosperity,  as  to  make  them  even  better  contributors 
to  the  Passumpsic  road  in  the  way  of  local  business  and 
travel. 

That  while  we  think  it  would  be  advantageous  to  the 
towns  of  Deiby  and  Stanstead  to  have  the  Atlantic  road 
pass  through  those  towns,  we  are  far  from  beleiving  that 
that  route  would  be  equally  advantageous  to  either  Orleans 
or  Essex  counties. 

We  incline  to  the  opinion  that  all  these  roads  had  better 


12 


be  permitted  to  pass  on  the  routes,  which  God  and  nature 
designed  for  them,  and  which  those  investing  funds  therein 
may  think  most  suitable,  within  their  authorized  limits. 

We  think  it  very  clear  that  such  is  the  situation  of  the 
Connecticut  and  Passumpsic  river  road,  that  if  that  road  “  is 
extended  co-incident  with  the  roads  connecting  with  Mon¬ 
treal,”  that  its  proper  business  cannot,  to  any  considerable 
extent,  be  diverted  by  rival  roads,  and  that  eventually,  if  the 
application  of  the  xltlantic  road  is  granted,  the  Passumpsic 
road  will  be  sure  of  very  great  additions  to  its  present  busi¬ 
ness,  and  may  readily  have  an  opening  to  all  the  advantag¬ 
es  of  trade  and  transportation  afforded  by  access  to  new 
markets  and  connections  with  Montreal,  with  Quebec  and 
other  parts  of  Canada. 

It  was  objected  that  the  proposed  location  of  the  Atlantic 
road  would  have  a  tendency  to  depress  the  stock  of  the  Pas¬ 
sumpsic  road,  and  thus  to  delay  its  extension  north  of  its 
present  terminus. 

The  committee  were  of  opinion  upon  this  point,  that  the 
alleged  probable  construction  of  the  Mississquoi  road,  would 
lead  to  an  early  extension  of  the  Passumpsic  road  so  as  to 
meet  it ;  that  the  apprehended  diversion  of  trade  of  the  nor¬ 
thern  counties  to  the  Portland  line,  would  thereby  induce 
the  Passumpsic  road  to  complete  its  line  so  as  to  occupy  its 
own  ground,  and  that  the  great  desirableness  to  the  Pas¬ 
sumpsic  and  other  southern  roads  in  Vermont  of  having  an 
unbroken  line  from  Quebec  to  New  York,  would  lead  to 
the  earliest  measures  for  extending  the  Passumpsic  road  to 


13 

a  connection  with  the  Canada  road,  so  as  to  form  a  part  of 
that  important  line. 

Such  a  line  would  be  one  of  the  most  direct  lines  of 
railroad  in  the  world  for  that  distance,  and  not  less  than  160 
or  170  miles  of  it  would  be  within  the  Slate  of  Vermont. 
But  the  location  of  the  Atlantic  road  in  the  valley  of  the 
East  Nulhegan  would  wholly  frustrate  this  connection,  and 
in  the  opinion  of  the  commiitee,  would  weaken  the  induce¬ 
ments  for  the  extension  of  the  Passumpsic  road. 

The  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  interests  of  Essex 
county  call  for  the  passage  of  the  bill,  and  that  the  legisla¬ 
ture  should  so  determine  this  question  as  to  secure  to  that 
county  the  large  and  valuable  benefit  which  is  now  offered 
— a  county  over  sixty  miles  in  length,  and  containing  more 
territory  than  any  other  county  in  the  State,  and  no  incon¬ 
siderable  portion  of  it  of  the  best  quality  for  cultivation. 

The  building  and  working  of  the  proposed  railroads  with¬ 
in  and  near  to  the  territory  of  Essex  county  would  lead  to 
a  large  outlay  of  money  in  that  quarter,  and  would  attract 
a  substantial  and  growing  population  to  that  part  of  the 
State. 

The  petitioners  for  the  desired  location  of  the  Atlantic  road 
presented  in  evidence  the  annual  report  of  the  directors  of 
the  Passumpsic  road,  submitted  to  the  stockholders  in  July 
last.  It  was  contended  by  the  petitioners  that  the  state¬ 
ments  in  the  7th  and  8th,  pages  of  that  report,  wholly  dis¬ 
prove  all  the  objections  now  urged  in  opposition  to  this  ap¬ 
plication,  and  show  that  that  company  has,  at  so  recent  a 
date,  relied  with  entire  confidence  upon  its  permanent  com- 


14 


mand  of  the  trade  upon  its  line,  notwithstanding  all  rivalry, 
and  has  entertained  a  constant  expectation  of  deriving  large 
benefits  from  connections  with  a  road  in  Canada. 

The  report  in  question  having  been  laid  before  us  in  ev¬ 
idence,  it  is  sufficient  for  the  committee  to  make  this  refer¬ 
ence  to  its  contents  to  show  its  bearing  upon  the  present 
case. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  facts  and  considerations,  the 
committee  have  decided  to  report  the  bill  referred  to  us  and 
to  recommend  the  passage  thereof. 

ALYAH  SABIN,  Chairman . 


